Chadron State Eagles
Date: Monday, November 07, 2016 – 7:00 pm – Pinnacle Bank Arena – Lincoln, NE
2015-16 Record: 9-17
2016 Record: 0-0
Record vs. Nebraska: 0-1 (85-54 back in 2008)
Head Coach: Houston Reed (1st year)
Welcome back to the wonderful work of Nebrasketball folks! While this isn’t the first true game of the season you should get a pretty good showing of what lies ahead for the Big Red.
Today Nebraska takes on the Chadron State Eagles in an exhibition match for the entire country to see. Well, at least the entire state of Nebraska. Not sure who would be interested in an intrastate match up between a Division I and a Division II school but hey, if you’re reading this then you’e one of them.
This is Chadron State’s second exhibition game against a Division I opponent this season. The first team they played were the Cowboys of the University of Wyoming on November 3rd. They lost 50-75 in a game where the Cowboys held the Eagles to 26% shooting from the floor. While many exhibition games are used to get the kinks out before the regular season start, you want to do better that 26%. However, that number gives you an idea of what is coming into Lincoln.
The pains of the Eagles don’t start with Wyoming, but come in from last year. Chadron State had a rough 2015-16 season going 7-19 and 5-7 in the RMAC. A record bad enough to have head coach Brent Bargen step down at the end of the season. Bargen was at Chadron State for ten years where he complied a 78-186 record.
There are seven players who are returning from last year’s squad so there is plenty to work on for the Eagles this season. The leaders from the Eagles previous season are are led by senior forward Warren Gordon and junior forward Bronte Corbaray. Against Wyoming Gordon had 8 points and Corbaray had 12 points in the loss. Expect to see plenty of both when they play the Huskers.
Coach Reed brought over two players from his previous head coaching stop, Otero Junior College in Colorado. Point guard Darius Polley and forward Austin Hall who will both see the court on Monday night. Hall, who is 6’6”, will be anchoring the paint. If that seems small for a center then you are correct. Hall is unfortunately one of the taller players on the team and only had 3 rebounds against Wyoming. This should bode very well for Nebraska who will be breaking in 6’11” freshman Jordy Tshimanga.
This “should be” an easy win for the Huskers and everyone will most likely see playing time on the floor. Watch out for Miles to rest the starters early and get the younger players some time.